****Begin File*************Begin File**************Begin File****
*****************************************************************ISSN 1069-7799
                              ALAWON
                  ALA Washington Office Newsline
                 An electronic publication of the
          American Library Association Washington Office

                       Volume 4, Number 78
                         August 15, 1995

   In this issue: (178 lines)
     HOUSE PASSES FUNDING BILL:  ACTION NEEDED
     ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1995,       S. 1090 INTRODUCED BY SENATORS LEAHY, BROWN AND KERRY
     
*****************************************************************

            HOUSE PASSES FUNDING BILL:  ACTION NEEDED

LIBRARY PROGRAM APPROPRIATIONS:
After lengthy debate on several contentious issues, the House
passed H.R. 2127 on August 3 by a vote of 219-208.  This measure,
the FY96 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Appropriations Bill, funds library, education, and other social
programs for the fiscal year beginning October 1.  The Senate
L-HHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee will take up the bill after
Labor Day.

The House result for Department of Education library programs is
a 29.8 percent cut from FY95 funding, as reported in the July
newsletter.  No changes were made by the full House
Appropriations Committee or during floor consideration to library
programs.  Only LSCA I and III were recommended for funding--LSCA
I at the current level and LSCA III with a 23 percent cut. 
During floor debate, L-HHS-ED Appropriations Subcommittee
Chairman John Porter (R-IL) said:  "Library service grants and
interlibrary cooperation programs are supported at approximately
last year's level while funds are terminated for smaller,
categorical library programs."

The amount for the National Commission on Libraries and
Information Science remains at $450,000, compared with the
current $901,000.  The squeeze on good programs was amply
illustrated by an amendment offered by Rep. William Goodling
(R-PA) and agreed to by voice vote on the House floor.  The
purpose was to provide $5 million to continue funding of the
National Institute for Literacy.  However, under budget caps, any
amendment to increase a program must be offset by a cut somewhere
else.  In this case, the $5 million came out of the educational
research account.  A colloquy between Rep. Goodling and Rep. Tom
Sawyer (D-OH) established that the research cut was not to affect
labs, centers, or clearinghouses supported by the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement.  The result, as noted by
Rep. Major Owens (D-NY), was that the cut "places a greater
burden on what is left in OERI, including the funding of five
institutes that have to be started up."  One of these is the
National Institute on Postsecondary Education, Libraries, and
Lifelong Learning.

Another amendment accepted by voice vote was sponsored by Rep.
Sam Johnson (R-TX) to restore $100 million for vocational
education basic grants and $50 million for school improvement
programs (Eisenhower professional development/Chapter 2) offset
by taking funds from the Agency for Health Care Policy and
Research.

Many education groups recommended defeat of the bill because of
the overall impact of cuts to major education programs.  In
addition, President Clinton indicated his intention to veto the
bill if presented to him in its current form. 

Of the Republicans, 213 voted yes on final passage; 18 voted no. 
Of the Democrats, 189 voted no; 6 voted yes.  One independent
voted yes; 7 Democrats and 1 Republican did not vote.

PUBLIC BROADCASTING:
The House defeated by 136-286 an amendment to H.R. 2127 offered
by Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) to eliminate funding for the
Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  CPB would receive, if
authorized, $240 million in advance funding for FY 1998. 

Subcommittee Chairman John Porter (R-IL), in opposing the
amendment, noted that CPB had already been cut by about $100
million through rescissions of funding previously approved for
fiscal years 1996 and 1997, and the $240 million in the bill
would be a further cut.

RESTRICTIONS ON POLITICAL ADVOCACY:
Rep. David Obey (D-WI) offered an amendment striking 17
restrictions on uses of funds in H.R. 2127, including the Istook
amendment restricting political advocacy activities of recipients
of federal grants.  The amendment failed by a vote of 155-270 on
August 2.  Reps. Obey, David Skaggs (D-CO), and Steny Hoyer
(D-MD) were particularly vocal in their opposition to the Istook
provision.

Subcommittee Chairman John Porter (R-IL) indicated that he had
opposed inclusion of the political advocacy provision in the
bill.  However, he proposed an amendment, adopted by voice vote
on August 2, to correct certain errors in the provision and
clarify that "individual persons" receiving federal grants were
exempted from the restrictions.

Except for this change, the amendment offered by Rep. Ernest Jim
Istook (R-OK) and approved by the Appropriations Committee during
its markup on July 23 remains intact.  The most critical of
several problems with this provision is that it is probably
unconstitutional for Congress to seek to limit a grantee's right
to lobby using private funds.  Using federal funds to lobby is
already prohibited; nonprofits are prohibited from engaging in
partisan politics; and the amount of money nonprofits can use for
lobbying is already restricted.  However, the Istook amendment
bars an organization from receiving federal grants if its
advocacy activities exceed new limits (as determined by a
formula).  New reporting requirements would be added, and
lobbying would be expansively redefined to include political
advocacy.

ACTION NEEDED ON PROGRAM CUTS:
With Congress on recess until after Labor Day, this is a good
opportunity to contact Senators at home concerning programs cut
by the House.  The first Senate action in September will be taken
by the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Appropriations Subcommittee.  Grassroots contacts now are
important, since Senate appropriators will be hard pressed to
find dollars to restore cuts, considering extremely tight
allocations and competing programs.

ACTION NEEDED ON POLITICAL ADVOCACY RESTRICTIONS:
ALA has joined its nonprofit coalition, Independent Sector, in
opposing the Istook amendment.  The effect of this provision, if
enacted, would be to stifle the advocacy voice of nonprofit
organizations that receive any kind of federal grants (although
it would not affect recipients of federal contracts, for
instance).  Over the August recess, contact Senators to urge
rejection of this provision, and urge Representatives to delete
the provision in later House-Senate conference on H.R. 2127.

*****************************************************************

  ELECTRONIC FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1995, 
     S. 1090 INTRODUCED BY SENATORS LEAHY, BROWN AND KERRY

On July 28, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Hank Brown (R-CO), and
John Kerry (D-MA) introduced S. 1090, the Electronic Freedom of
Information Improvement Act of 1995 (see July 28 Congressional
Record, pp. S10888-91).  The bill would increase public access to
the electronic records of federal agencies, and take steps to
alleviate delays in processing requests for government records. 
S. 1090 would require all federal agencies to make records that
are the subject of multiple FOIA requests available
electronically.  ALA joined 22 other organizations signing a
letter supporting passage of the bill.

In his introductory statement, Senator Leahy referred to several
library-related government online services: 

     We have recognized that Government must take advantage
     of the benefits of new technologies to provide easier
     and broader dissemination of information.  In 1993, we
     passed a law requiring that people have online access
     to important Government publications, such as the
     Federal Register, the Congressional Record and other
     documents put out by the Government Printing Office. 
     Earlier this year, House Speaker Newt Gingrich unveiled
     "Thomas," an electronic archive available on the
     Internet that contains bills and congressional
     speeches.


*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************

ALAWON (ISSN 1069-7799) is an irregular publication of the
American Library Association Washington Office, 110 Maryland
Avenue, N.E., Washington, DC 20002-5675.  Internet:
alawash@alawash.org; Phone: 202-547-4440; Fax: 202-547-7363. 
Editor: Lynne E. Bradley (leb@alawash.org).

ALAWON is available free of charge and is available only in
electronic form.  To subscribe, send the message "subscribe ala-wo [your name]" to listserv@uicvm (Bitnet) or
listserv@uicvm.uic.edu (Internet).  Back issues and other
documents are available from the list server.  To find out what's
available, send the message "send ala-wo filelist" to the
listserv.  The ALA-WO filelist contains the list of files with
the exact filename and filetype.  To get a particular file, issue
the command "send filename filetype" to the listserv.  Do not
include the quotes in your commands.

All materials in the newsletter subject to copyright by the
American Library Association may be reprinted or redistributed
for noncommercial purposes with appropriate credits.  For other
reprinting or redistribution, address requests to the ALA
Washington Office (alawash@alawash.org).

*****************************************************************
***End of file*************End of file*************End of file***